The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of group training methods in improving the child care practices of foster parents. Such a study would contribute to our knowledge of the effectiveness of training methods, identify the various role conflicts that exist in the working relationships of social workers and foster parents, and hopefully, improve the child care practices of foster parents. We assume that foster parents and agency staff members can through group discussion focused on role definition, clarify the respective rights and responsibilities of agency staff-foster parents - natural parents toward the foster children. This process of clarification carries with it the implicit assumption that the present arrangement of roles and statuses are open to question and therefore potentially changeable. We further assume that foster parents will be more satisfied with their roles when their roles are defined by the social agency as those of colleagues with distinct skills, but of equal importance to other members of the staff. Finally, we assume that when foster parents are clear about their roles, can help define their own roles, and are satisfied with their roles, they will be more competent in caring for the foster children placed with them. The design for the proposed research is a 2 x 2 factorial design with 2 control groups employing a pre-test - post-test approach.